Open 3D Printing for the Campus Community

To inspire interest in design in support of personal creative, investigatory and entrepreneurial efforts of the campus community, ITS now offers 3D printing for individual projects without an academic sponsor or specific academic purpose, helping community members bring their creations to physical reality.

The Guidelines:

Academic projects take precedence.

The service operates on a first-come, first-serve basis.

We will provide 5 cubic inches of material per requestor. An additional 5 cubic inches of material may be supported at the discretion of the Academic Technology staff. Prints that consume more material will be considered on a case by case basis, and may require the requestor to purchase additional material.

All printing projects will be reviewed by a member of the Academic Technology staff for compliance with safety and applicable College guidelines (e.g. no weapons or pornography).

Members of the community will not be permitted to use the College’s 3D printers to create material that:

Is prohibited by local, state or federal law.

Is unsafe, harmful, dangerous or poses an immediate threat to the well-being of others.

Violates copyrights or intellectual property rules.

All projects must be sent to a printer by a member of the Academic Technology staff.

Print jobs must be submitted electronically, with a request for material color & type (default is grey PLA). Some materials cost extra, can be more abrasive to the printer nozzles and must be provided by the requestor. Consult with Academic Technology staff for details.

Most importantly, 3D printing at Swarthmore is not a “service” but rather is an educational opportunity. We expect the requestor to participate in all phases of the printing process as they learn about it, rather than just submit a job they expect to pick up later.

Please contact one of these members of the Academic Technology team for more information or to get started: Andrew Ruether (aruethe2@swarthmore.edu, x-8254) or Doug Willen (willen@swarthmore.edu, x-7787).